Sabaragamuwa learns from Afghanistan?

There seems to be lot of positive reaction to this new rule,
at least judging by the responses to the Sunday Leader article. To those who
welcome such outrageous laws curtailing the freedom of choice of citizenry, let
me wish good luck to you all. Yes, what this country seem to need is more and
more such laws, and what we free thinking people need is a another ‘country’
where our children will be taught the skills that they need to become
productive people, and good ethics and human values that are needed to become
better citizens. Religious brainwashing or force fed doctrine has not done any good for anyone so far.
My family has strong Buddhist background, and I don't see the need to send my
child to religious brainwashing OR private tuition on a Sunday, but I believe they
can enjoy some free time with the family on Sundays and other holidays. However
if I lose my rights as a parent to make that decision myself, but have to abide
by a law passed by religious fanatics, then of course I have to find a province
that still has those freedoms , and if the whole country is going down the Taliban
path, then I need to find another country.

No country in the world has elevated their socio-economical
standards by passing more and more religiously motivated laws. We are not going
to be an exception. Religious laws are
not going to address root causes of the perceived problem that those laws are purporting
to address. Religious laws are only help to make politicians and religious leaders "appear to do something”. Those who are cheering such pretentious moves only help the corrupt politicians and religious leaders to establish
themselves to be more and more corrupt.

BTW what about children of parents of other faiths, mixed
faiths and non-religious? Do they all have to submit themselves to such
religious laws? How come a child as young as 5 be branded in their parents
religion? Where is this country heading? Is former Afghanistan under Taliban-rule
our goal to achieve as a country?

At the end, all these laws will be only for the masses (lower middle class and people below poverty line). Well to do people will do whatever they please. No one can stop a private tutor from doing a group class in the confines of a wealthy household. It is the social layers below the middle class households that have to play by all these rules.